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EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT GROWING HOT PEPPERS
CLIMATE
Hot peppers love heat. They need warm soil and air temperatures throughout the growing season and are very sensitive to frost. Use plastic mulches, row covers, hoop houses, anything that will help grow this wonderful vegetable more quickly in cooler climes.
SOIL
Hot peppers need high amounts of nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus. They like well drained soil in full sun they will do well in raised beds filled with good topsoil, compost, and rotted manure mixed in. A pH near neutral (7.0) is ideal.
SPACING
Hot peppers grow into small bushes and need good air circulation. Give hot peppers enough room by spacing them 12″-18″ apart in rows at least 24″-36″ apart.
DIRECT SEEDING
Direct seeding is not normally practiced.
SEEDING FOR TRANSPLANTS
Start hot peppers indoors 8 weeks before the last frost. Using a 2″ or slightly larger pot will produce larger plants with better-developed root systems.
Sow the seeds shallowly, about 1/4″ deep in a moistened lightweight growing mix. Keep the mix moist (but not wet) and warm – about 80°-85° during germination. Keeping the mix warm results in a quicker germination and healthier plants. After the first true leaves have appeared, thin the plants to one per pot. If the seedlings are out-growing their cell-tray or pots, pot them up to 2″-3″ pots.
Do not use plastic covered seed starting trays to start seeds. They create a very humid environment that is too stagnant.
Do not use peat pots as they tend to absorb and retain too much moisture for growing some types of hot peppers.
GERMINATION
These seeds germinate best in soils around above 80°F.
Germination will take 6-8 days.
TRANSPLANTING INTO THE GARDEN
Many gardeners transplant their hot pepper plants too early. Wait until the soil is 70°-85° before setting the seedlings out. Use black mulch to warm the soil. Place it on the beds when you start the seeds.
WATERING
Hot peppers need consistent moisture during germination. Keep them evenly moist, don’t keep them soggy. Not enough water and the they will acquire a bitter taste. The use of mulches will help in keeping the soil moist. If you use black plastic mulch, plants will need more frequent waterings. The use of a soaker hose underneath the black plastic will save time and make watering much easier.
HARVESTING
Hot peppers are mature when they turn their final color. Most hot pepper fruits are green when immature and can be harvested at that time. Mature hot peppers can be red, orange, yellow, green, or purple depending on the variety.
Harvest the peppers as they mature by using garden shears to clip them off the plant – don’t pull them off. It is best to wear gloves when handling hot peppers. Continual harvesting of the hot peppers produces continuous fruit set so pick the hot peppers off your bushes regularly.
POST-HARVEST HANDLING
Wash and dry hot peppers thoroughly. Peppers contain oils on their skins and seeds that can seriously irritate skin and mucous membranes. Be very careful not to touch your eyes, nose, or even mouth when handling hot peppers.
STORAGE
Hot peppers will last up to two weeks if stored at 45°-50°, 60%-70% relative humidity. Hot peppers can also be canned, frozen, dried whole or dried and ground.
Hot peppers are very sensitive to ethylene gas so do not store them with fruits and vegetables that produce ethylene gas.
DISEASES
Anthracnose, Blossom End Rot, Bacterial Spot, Early Blight, and Verticillium Wilt.
PESTS
Aphids, Colorado Potato Beetles, Tarnished Plant Bugs, Flea Beetles, and Hornworms.
COMMENTS
Use an inexpensive heating pad underneath the cell-tray to help achieve the desired soil temp. Never water hot pepper seedlings directly. Allow the seedlings to drink by immersing cell trays or pots with holes in the bottom into a pan with water 1/2″ deep. Allow the hot pepper seedlings to drink for a few minutes before removing them. Do not let the hot pepper seedlings get water-logged.
Hot pepper seedlings like light – lots of light. Use fluorescent lights to supplement natural light if growing the hot peppers indoors. Hot pepper plants will become tall and leggy (weak) if there isn’t enough light.
Don’t plant hot peppers in the same bed with other plants in the Solanaceae (tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant) as they are susceptible to the same diseases.
Sprays made of ground hot pepper are often used on other plants with insect infestations. In most situations, bugs don’t bother hot peppers.
Article written by Michael Lock of Bramblescroft Home Made Foods
www.bramblescroft.com
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